Puff (Valiant Comics)
| Alignment = | Gender = | Birthplace = | Status = | Occupation = Eggbreaker | Family = Thumper (girlfriend) | Affiliations = Harbinger Foundation | Creators = | First = ( ) | Last = }} Puff, real name Robert Muñoz, is a member of the Eggbreakers, a group of young Harbingers who act as the enforcers of Toyo Harada, the most powerful Harbinger on Earth and founder of the Harbinger Foundation. History The Hesitant Burly Defender Robert Muñoz was one of Toyo Harada’s most loyal enforcers, but his feelings for Li Yan, the Eggbreaker code–named Thumper, put him at odds with the Harbinger Foundation, a conflict that resulted in a fateful decision for the Harbinger Resistance, a loose organization of renegades. Reality Check When Phil Seleski, the energy entity called Solar, made first contact with the Harbinger Foundation, he first met with Miss Ando and then with Mr. Kuramoto. Soon, Phil realized he was being covertly watched and decided to investigate the installations. As he held a magnetic disk and read its content, Ando contacted Toyo Harada by phone. Under Ando's orders, Puff (in a regular executive costume) destroyed the disk, catching Phil by surprise. Phil noted that Puff's power of destroying molecular cohesion required delicate control in order to avoid violent explosions, and pushed Puff violently aside before being attacked by Puff's fellow Eggbreaker Thumper. Children of the Eight–Day As the most powerful Harbinger on Earth and founder of the Harbinger Foundation, Toyo Harada drew forth the dormant abilities of other Harbingers that helped him promote his vision of world betterment. When he discovered the existence of teenager Pete Stanchek, the only Harbinger who could rival his own Godlike powers, Toyo sought to destroy him lest he destroyed the world. All For One… On March 5th 1992 in Dallas, Robert Muñoz lost control of his power and set off an explosion that devastated the building where the Harbinger Foundation kept its regional office. Before the police and firemen arrived, an emergency team took Robert to the foundation’s research facility. That night, as Toyo held Robert aloft to prevent him from causing any more explosions, an executive reported that the renegades breached the facility’s first level, while another executive refused to accept a call from someone who claimed that he urgently needed to speak with Toyo. Worried, Li asked Toyo if Robert was going to be all right, which prompted Toyo to ask her if they were close. As Li told Toyo that she and Robert were friends but they had been together since they began training, he told her that the mental process by which Robert manipulated energy was very complex, and that since he was not certain how he lost control, trying to help him regain it was very difficult. Upset, Li asked Toyo what would happen to Robert, and he told her that if he did not find the answer he would have to take drastic steps. Just then, a foundation executive reported that the Harbinger Resistance had breached the facility’s second level and Toyo, concerned over the timing of the renegades’ attack, ordered a withdrawal and informed Li that he had to terminate Robert because they could not take him with them. When Li ran towards him, Robert warned her not to touch him, but despite his warning, she put her arms around him and said that they were staying together or would let Harada terminate them both. Suddenly, the renegades broke into the sub-basement through a hole that Pete ripped on the wall, and as Toyo inquired whether they had an Eggbreaker squadron on the way and an executive informed him that it would take them an hour, Ed and Seymour, two foundation scientists, stood in the renegades way to protect Harada. As Pete ordered the others to take care of the guards while he dealt with Toyo, John pushed Seymour to the ground and then threw a bodyguard’s Uzi at Faith as he tossed the guard across the room. While Pete and Toyo silently faced each other amid a whirlwind, an executive told Seymour that it made no sense for them to fight anymore since their security men were down, and that it all was really on Toyo’s shoulders, and once he dealt with Pete, the others would present no problem. Troubled, yet confident, Seymour reminded the executive that Toyo was still keeping Puff aloft, and then, though he wondered if he could win with his attention divided that way, he cheered for Toyo. Standing on the sidelines, Li Yan, who worried that Toyo was in trouble, let go of Robert and tackled Pete. After Li Yan tossed Faith at Charlene and Kris, she tossed John against a wall with one punch and threatened to smash his skull. While John stared in shock at the glass shards protruding from the wall, Li Yan told him that she was going to break Charlene’s neck, and as she punched him in the stomach, she said that she was going to kill all of them so Toyo had nothing else to worry about except saving Robert. Fed up, John grabbed Li Yan by the neck and pushed her off him. Curious to how someone as small as Li Yan could hit as hard and feel like she weigh a ton, John removed her coat and discovered that she was wearing weights under her clothes. As John punched Li Yan on the floor after he got rid of the weights and threatened to rip her throat out, Pete urged him to leave her alone. Suddenly, Robert released a massive discharge that evaporated part of the floor and caught everyone’s attention. As the renegades and Li Yan gathered around Robert, Faith told them that she hurt one of Toyo’s men really bad and that she was not feeling well and was shaking all over. Though Faith begged them to leave, Pete told her that they first had to find out what was happening to Robert. Worried for Li Yan’s safety as he felt himself starting to lose control again, Robert urged her to leave, but she refused. As Pete levitated Robert above the ground as he had seen Toyo doing, Robert told him that he made things disintegrate, but he had lost control and was in danger of blowing up anything solid that he touched. As Robert told Pete that he had forgotten how to control himself and suggested that he dump him out in the hills or kill him, the phone rang and Kris answered it. As the operator told Kris that a caller on one of the outside lines said that it was important that he spoke with Toyo, she asked her to connect the call and, all of a sudden, Phil Seleski came out through the phone demanding to see Harada. When Pete wrongly assumed that Solar was one of Harada’s Eggbreakers, John rallied the others to attack him, but then Faith assured them that he was a good guy, a super-hero. As Faith gleefully told everyone that there used to be a comic book about Doctor Solar a long time ago, she asked Solar what he was doing in real life, but he told her that it was a long story and asked her what was happening. Nervously, Pete told Phil that they went there after Toyo, but he escaped and they were trying to help Robert not blow up even though he and Li Yan were Eggbreakers. As he got the drift of the situation, Phil reminded Robert that he had told him before that his ability to interfere with molecular cohesion was tricky business, and he had to have fine control to prevent violent explosions. As Phil told Robert that once he lost control he could start to get a mental block and that he wished he could coach him but he could not begin to describe how he did it, Pete asked him to demonstrate using a piece of rock. As Phil disintegrated the rock, Pete went inside his head and got a mental image of how he did it that he relayed into Robert’s mind. While a thankful Robert embraced a relieved Li Yan, Phil chastised Pete for extracting information from his mind and angrily asked him whom he thought he was, when, just then, Harada returned to the sub-basement accompanied by a squadron of Foundation Troopers. Pleased to see the other two most powerful beings on the planet, Toyo sarcastically told them that there was much to settle among them. Personality Powers and Abilities * Puff is able to disrupt molecular cohesion upon contact or extremely close range, allowing him to vaporize solids of liquids explosively or at a controlled rate. He gains his code name from the distinctive sound made by objects undergoing controlled disintegration. Equipment Notes Appearances Gallery File:Harbinger Vol 1-5 003.jpg Quotes References External links Category:Eggbreakers members